New Zealand sustainable leather accessories brand Deadly Ponies is to expand its footprint into Australia with its first store in the market. 

The store is scheduled to open on August 4 on High Street in the Melbourne suburb of Armadale. The company says Melbourne was chosen as the location of the first store because the brand already has a strong fan base there.

The store is designed in collaboration with Auckland-based interior designer Katie Lockhart and is described as a “representation of the brand’s aesthetic evolution; a serene space to live and breathe the magic that is Deadly Ponies”.

“We’ve created an interior handwriting for our spaces, linking them together but also creating new developments for each store that we introduce,” said Liam Bowden, creative director at Deadly Ponies. 

According to Bowden, Deadly Ponies Melbourne will feature elements similar to the brand’s four New Zealand stores, such as Gouda ceramics and Murano glass. The interior will also feature signature display items handmade over the last century, including a Paul Evans’ lamp from 1970’s Berlin. 

“The store has a very modern and architectural feel, yet still makes reference to traditional elements synonymous with the Deadly Ponies experience,” he added. 

Launched in 2005, the brand designs products in New Zealand with the majority of stock produced at its own eco-atelier in Chiang Mai, Thailand, to ensure total transparency over the sourcing and supply of its pieces. The company uses leather offcuts sourced from tanneries that would otherwise have gone to waste, and has just launched a range of accessories (pictured above) made from recycled handbags in an extension of its sustainability commitment.

Deadly Ponies says it is on a mission to be “the world’s most responsible handbag brand”.